When is Shopping Better Than Selling?

It would seem to make sense that selling (making money) would always be preferable to buying (spending money), but in the case of garage sales, the opposite is true.

We had our own garage sale today. Since we are out at garage and estate sales every weekend, it is rare that we have one ourselves, but we had gotten to the point where it was time to move those unused items and store surplus. We had a very good day, sold the majority of what we had put and made a tidy sum. Or did we?

You really don't make much, if any, profit from a garage sale. It's still smart to have one now and then just to clear your place out, but it is rare that you will ever get what you paid for anything. You're lucky to get 10% of your original price.

On the other hand, if you follow the suggestions in our book, "The Complete Money Saver's Guide to Garage Sale Shopping," then you will almost always be buying things at a tremendous bargain and saving a great deal of money. As we discuss in the book, staying on a predetermined budget, knowing the local market and knowing what things retail for, you should arrive at garage sales well prepared to make the very best buying decisions possible.

Go ahead and have that garage sale now and then, but know that the real money is in buying smarter in the first place.

Last Day to Get Our Book for Free

As of this writing, almost 4000 people have taken advantage of our free download promotion. Today is the last day, so be sure to get your copy of our book now! Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Savers-Garage-Shopping-ebook/dp/B008ZRYB28

Hope you enjoy it and pick up a few new tips!

p.s. Don't have a Kindle? No problem. Amazon offers free Kindle reader applications for phone, tablet and PC here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Fall Decor a la Garage Sale

A section in our book talks about decorating for the holidays with garage sale finds, and this may be one of the easiest things to do. If there is one thing you'll always find plenty of at garage sales, it's decor for the holidays.

For fall, you'll find a lot of silk autumn leaves and arrangements as well as ceramic turkeys, Thanksgiving planters and autumn toned candles.

Today's garage sales offered up an exceptionally cute pair of standing, stuffed Pilgrims which we snapped up for $5. They'll be a unique and eye catching duo in front of the fireplace, although my official garage sale "buddy" thinks they should go in our store instead. He is still working on the concept of "cute."

If your fall table or mantle are looking too bare, be sure to get out to the sales next week for something to give your home a warm, autumn look!

Our Book is FREE This Weekend!

If you haven't already read "The Complete Money Saver's Guide to Garage Sale Shopping," there couldn't be a better time than this weekend.

We are officially launching the book and it will be a free download starting tomorrow, Friday, October 19th throughout the weekend. Take advantage of this offer and be sure to spread the word!

To order, click the book illustration on the right to link to Amazon.

Don't Judge a Sale by Its Cover

In our book, we do emphasize that you should not necessarily skip garage sales based on the neighborhood alone. We have found that some real treasures are there to be found in very modest neighborhoods.

We came across a good example of that today when we took an old gravel one lane drive back to a little mobile home tucked behind an industrial park. We ended up buying a lovely Tiffany lamp for $8 and a set of portable CB radios for $3. In fact, my garage sale buddy is playing with the new CB radios as I write.

Don't let those little, out of the way sales fool you. They just might sell you the next "Antiques Roadshow" treasure!

Best Garage Sale Map Ever!

Just discovered, this one isn't in our book but we may add it to a new edition.

When compiling a map on a day with a large number of garage sales, try this great app:
www.multiplottr.com

Just type in one address per line and let Multiplotrr do the work. Multiplotrr easily compiles them all together instantly. You'll love it- we do!